The Explorer - The HeroQuest Guide

Meet the Explorer

The Explorer is one of the two heroes in the Avalon Hill Jungles of Delthrak quest pack (2024), alongside the human Berserker. The Explorer is a dwarf, and the pack includes male and female versions of the figure.

As the name says, the Explorer is the hero who leads the way. The Explorer's exact special rules are printed on the hero card; we couldn't confirm their wording from an official source, so this page doesn't describe them. What it does cover are the rules every scout depends on: how far you move, how searching works, and what traps can do to you, with the exact odds.

Starting Statistics

The Explorer moves with two red six-sided dice, like every hero. For the Explorer's Attack, Defend, Body and Mind values, see the hero card.

Classic edition (1989–1990): there was no Explorer in the original game. The only dwarf was the core Dwarf (Attack 2, Defend 2, Body 7, Mind 3), who is also the trap expert in the 2021 game.

Think of it this way: a scout's job isn't to win the fight in the next room. It's to make sure the party walks into that room on its own terms.

How Far Can You Go?

Heroes roll two six-sided dice and may move up to that many squares, one square at a time, never diagonally and never through monsters or walls. You don't have to use the full roll, and you can pass over other heroes. The total is 7 on average, but the spread is wide:

Movement Roll (2 Red Dice)

A room 8 squares away is reached in one turn only 41.7% of the time. If you need to be somewhere this turn, count squares before you commit, and remember the turn rule: move then act, or act then move. You can't move part of the way, search or attack, and then keep moving.

Searching Without Getting Caught

Searching is one of the six hero actions (alongside Attack, Cast a spell, Search for secret doors, Search for traps, and Disarm a trap). The rules a scout must know:

No monsters in sight. You can only search when no monsters are visible. For treasure, the room must be clear of monsters.
Treasure is searched in rooms only, once per hero per room.
Treasure cards bite. Almost half of the treasure deck is wandering monsters or hazards, so a treasure search is a gamble.
Opening doors and looking are free. Doors start closed, and once opened they can never be closed again.

A Scout's Routine

Search for traps first in corridors you'll walk again, so the slower heroes behind you don't spring them.

Search for secret doors when a quest map looks like it has a dead end. Shortcuts save turns.

Search for treasure last, once the fight is over and the party is together, because a wandering monster may appear.

Traps: The Exact Odds

The combat die has 3 skulls, 2 white shields and 1 black shield, and trap rules use it like this:

Jumping a found trap costs 2 squares of movement and works on any non-skull result.
Disarming with a tool kit works on any non-skull result.
The core Dwarf needs no tool kit and fails only on a black shield. Check the Explorer's card to see whether the Explorer has a trap ability of its own; don't assume it shares the core Dwarf's.
A spear trap rolls 1 die; a skull costs 1 Body Point.
A falling block rolls 3 dice with no defense, 1 Body Point per skull, and the square stays blocked for good.
A pit costs 1 Body Point, and you fight with one fewer die while you're in it.

Trap Rolls at a Glance

A falling block averages 1.5 Body Points of damage, and you can't defend against it. That's why searching for traps is worth an action in a corridor the whole party will cross.

Branching Paths in Delthrak

Jungles of Delthrak has 16 quests and branching paths: what happens in a quest can change which quest you play next. As the scout, the Explorer is often the hero whose discoveries decide that. The exact branches are in the quest book; the general shape looks like this:

flowchart TD A["Play a quest"] --> B{"What did the party find or achieve?"} B -->|"One outcome"| C["Next quest on path A"] B -->|"Another outcome"| D["Next quest on path B"] C --> E["Paths can meet again later"] D --> E

The pack also brings Raptor and Saberfang companions into play; check the quest notes for how they act. Jungles of Delthrak is supported by the Companion App, so you can also play it with a Digital Zargon.

The Explorer in the Party

Good Partners

Berserker or Barbarian: you find the trouble, they deal with it.

Core Dwarf: if both dwarves are in the party, compare cards and decide who handles traps.

Wizard: a scout who spots the monsters early gives the Wizard time to pick the right spell.

Common Mistakes

Running too far ahead. A scout alone in a room with the door open is the first hero Zargon's monsters reach.

Searching for treasure mid-fight. You can't while monsters are in view, and a wandering monster at the wrong time can turn a won fight around.

Try It at the Table

Roll 2 dice twenty times and count how often you get 8 or more. Compare with the 41.7% in the chart.
On your next quest, have the Explorer search every long corridor for traps before the party crosses it, and count the Body Points saved.

Where Next

Jungles of Delthrak: the quest pack the Explorer comes from.
Jungles of Delthrak lore: the story behind the pack.
The Dwarf: the core game's trap expert.
Treasure & Equipment: tool kits, armor and what to buy.
The Core Quest Book: the 14 quests of the 2021 Game System.